The ‘DownBeat’ Interviews

75 years of great jazz and more

DownBeat is one of the great music fanzine
successes and probably the oldest-running publication of its kind. Started in
1934 by devotees of the still-disreputable music called jazz, a sound deemed
unworthy of serious consideration in the mainstream press, DownBeat became the most respected journal of opinion and criticism
in jazz as that music grew in esteem. As jazz’s presence in popular culture
receded with the rise of rock ’n’ roll, DownBeat
expanded to encompass worthwhile artists rooted, however loosely, in jazz and
blues.

Along with critical
reviews, DownBeat has always featured
interviews with artists and articles by the artists themselves. DownBeat: The Great Jazz Interviews (Hal
Leonard) draws from 75 years of back issues to present a collection of words by
dozens of significant jazz artists plus some important musicians from outside
the fold. Edited by DownBeat’s Frank
Alkyer and Ed Enright, the book begins with fascinating pieces on (or by) such
formative figures as Louis Armstrong and two feuding men with tall claims for
their contributions to American music, Jelly Roll Morton and W.C. Handy. The Great Jazz Interviews brings
together swing-era articles on Duke Ellington and Count Basie, Artie Shaw and
Benny Goodman; bebop interviews with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and
Charlie Parker; and examinations on the cool school through Miles Davis and
Stan Getz. The ’60s brought interviews with venturesome artists such as Sun Ra,
Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane along with Jimi Hendrix.

DownBeat magazine was always supportive of
black artists at a time when such sympathy was not a given in America. It
tended to be open to all developments. A 1954 interview with Les Paul shows the
magazine was already documenting the technological shift that was changing the
way music was created and consumed. The 1970s and ’80s brought fascinating
discussions on music with Frank Zappa and Brian Eno.

The Great Jazz Interviews is essential reading for anyone who
cares deeply about music, jazz or otherwise.

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